7 Social Media Copywriting Techniques to Boost Sales

By Sarah McInerney  
| May 19th 2014

Sarah McInerney

Head of Content

Sarah has almost three decades of experience in crafting compelling, engaging content specifically designed to boost sales and enhance brand loyalty. She’s also an expert in developing unique tone of voice that helps brands connect with their audiences. Her marketing and client service background has given Sarah a natural understanding of how to write content that makes readers take action. Whether it’s signing up to a mailing list, making an enquiry or donation or clicking the buy button, Sarah knows precisely how to convert with words. Pen down, Sarah is a proud member of the Essex Wildlife Trust and spends most of her free time enjoying inspiring walks through her local woodland and nature reserves, admiring everything that flaps, flutters and flowers.

Copywriting for social media needs a different approach than copywriting for the web or printed material. With the right technique, the copywriting that is employed with social media can lead to boosted customer engagement, a higher click-through rate and, ultimately, increased sales.

Here are our top 7 tips for getting it right with social media content writing:

  1. Make the reader want more – Content within social media needs to be tantalising enough to make the reader want to click through and find out more. Do your tweets or posts help your readers solve a problem, achieve a goal or see an opportunity? There should always be a call to action to allow customers a way to direct their curiosity. 
  2. Know your audience – Just like other forms of copywriting, it’s essential to know your audience and tailor your messages to them. Consider who your audience is and what their attitudes and goals are. Test headlines, copy and content to see what works best and gives the best results. 
  3. Tone of voice – Copywriting for social media needs a tone of voice that is in-keeping with the image and identity of the company. It could be serious and authoritative or it could be fun and imaginative, but whatever it is, it must always reflect the company’s values and unique selling points. 
  4. Use numbers – Posts containing numbers and links to articles with numbered points work well. We are all constantly bombarded by information and don’t have time to read everything. Research has found that numbers work well in headlines because we can scan the points. Additionally, headlines containing digits are more likely to be shared. 
  5. Make headlines count – Good headlines get right to the point and can cut through all the other noise. A good headline will stimulate curiosity and lead to higher click-throughs. A good headline will appeal to emotional desires, compelling them to take action. 
  6. Form a dialogue – Copywriting for social media should promote engagement. Social media should not just be a forum for talking about what the business has achieved or is doing. Posts should pose questions and encourage feedback. 
  7. Use more verbs and fewer nouns – According to social media scientist Dan Zarrella, tweets that contained verbs and adverbs had a higher click through rate than those containing nouns and adjectives. So it would seem that tweets containing action and directional words like “help” or “fast” have a better response than using descriptive words like “beautiful”. 

Follow these points to ensure your social media content drives engagement, click-throughs and sales. You can also get in touch with our SEO agency in London, if you would like expert help achieving this.

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